Apparatus for controlling the hardness of water



Feb. 13, 1951 F. c. WlLHELM 2,541,732

APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING THE HARDNESS OF WATER Filed March 5, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 HARD WATER ZERO SOFT WATER mxsn BOILER WATER INVENTOR. 550 C. Wu HELM Arron/vans Feb. 13, 1951 F. c. WILHELM 2,541,732

APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING THE HARDNESS OF WATER Filed March 3, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WATER SOFTENER EQUIPMENT SUPPLIED l6 WITH STEAM CONDENSATE TANK wATER PROPORTIONER/ 2/ l9 BOILER A;

FEED PUMP DEEP WELL HARD WAT E R INVENTOR. fTQED C. [ML/154M A 7- TORNE vs Patented Feb. 13, 1951 OFFICE APPARATUS FOR CONTROIJLI'NQ THEE 'HARDNESS OF -WATER- Fred-Carl Wilhelm, inne no isM nn- Application'March 3, 1947', SerialNo. 732,104

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in apparatus for controlling the hardness of water, and more particularly to such av device adapted for use in conjunction with a steam boiler to regulate and control the hardness of the water delivered thereto.

It is well known in the operation of steam boilers that it is of the utmost importance to control the hardness of the water delivered to the boiler in order to prevent damage to the boiler from foreign matter which may be contained inthe hardwater. It is, therefore, more orless common practice to provide means for controlling the hardness of the-water delivered to the boiler whereby maximum efilciency and long life ofthe-boller may be obtained;

Numerous devices have heretofore been devised for controlling the hardness of. the water deliveredtc a boiler, but to thebest of my knowledge, all of these have been rather expensive and costly to install and. maintain, and some are rather complicated to operate.

The novel device herein disclosed is a result of. considerable experimental and research WOI'k inv an attempt to provide a simple, inexpensive device: which may be readily and conveniently installed in the usual feed line ofv a boiler, and into which zero soft water and hard: water are introduced and intermixed in such a manner that the resultant water mixture discharging the boiler will have no damaging effects upon thehboiler or other equipment to which it may be supplied.

A further object is to provide a simple and inexpensive device for controlling the hardness of, water delivered to a boiler, which comprises a housing whose walls define a mixing chamber, and said housing having an inlet for zero soft water and one for hard water and being pro.- vided with a single outlet, and means bein embodied in the housing for controlling the flow of hard. water thereinto whereby the hardness of the WatGr-flOWlIIg from the device to the boiler may be accurately controlled,

A further and more specific object is to provide a. device for controlling the hardness of water delivered to a boiler or other apparatus to be supplied with steam having a known hardness, which comprises a simple inexpensive hOllSzn ing having an inlet for zero soft water and an inlet for hard water, and a single outlet; for the discharge of thetreated water therefrom, and the'member being rotatably received in one end ofthe housing and having a sleeve-like. portion fittingintothe cylinder a-nd provided with a pluralityof metering orifices of different diameters adapted to'be selectively moved into-regise tration with the hard water inlet, whereby the flowofhard water into the housing maybe acrcurately controlled so as 'tocontrol: the hard!- ness of thewater discharging from the housing through its outlet to the boiler, and means being provided whereby said member may be conveniently rotated to vary the volume of. hard water delivered into: the housing.

Other-objects ofxtheinvention will appear from the following description and the: accompanying drawings. and Will -b8 pointed out in the annexed claims.

In the accompanying drawings there has-been disclosed .a. structure designed to carryv out the various objects: of. the invention, but it is to. be understood that the invention is not confined to the exact features shown, as'various changes may be made. within. the scope of the. claims which. follow.

In the drawings:

Figure l is. a longitudinal: sectional view through the-devicegshowing the: general construe-. tion thereof;

Figure 2'. asectionali view; on theline 2+2 of Figure 1.;

Figure 3 isea-n end view of Figure '1, showing the means. for varying the supply. of hard water intothe housing Figure 4 is a perspective view of the. sleeve-. like: member removed: from the housing; and

Figure 5. is a schematic dia ram showing. the device interposed-into. thev usual. water feed line of a steam boiler.

Theenovel device herein disclosed-isshownlcomprising a housing, generally-designated by the numeral 2 having a; closed end 3 provided: with a. threaded aperture 4'; adapted to receiveone end of a pipe .5. which; may lead, from asuitable condensate tank 6 of. azconventional watersofe tening plant or apparatus, as: will beunderstood by reference 'tOFigLlI-G. 5.

The opposite end. of the housing 2' is shown provided with a Cylindrical bore 1 intowhiclris fitted a sleeve-like portion 8; of a closure, meme ber 9 secured in adjusted positionto-the housing by suitable cap screws;- or bolts 1115, as shown in Figures 1 and'3;

A hard water "inlet'l t is provided the. upper portion of thehousing: 2 and? :isthreadedvto re ceive one end of a pipe I3 whose opposite end may be in communication with a pipe I4 leading from a suitable source of hard water supply, such as a deep well, indicated by the numeral I5 in Figure 5.

The opposite end of the pipe I4 is shown connected to the upper end of a suitable water softener 16, havin a soft water discharge pipe I! for conducting the soft water from the water softener IE to the condensate tank 6, as indicated in Figure 5.

By reference to Figure 1, it will be noted that the housing 2 has a discharge opening Is to which one end of a suitable pipe I9 is connected which leads from the housing 2 to a boiler 2| to be supplied with treated water. A suitable feed pump 22 may be interposed in the feed pipe [9 to assure a uniform supply of water to the boiler 2 I. The zero soft water pipe 5 and the discharge pipe l9 are preferably of substantially the same diameter, whereas the hard water supply pipe I3 may be relatively smaller. The hard water pipe l3, however, is amply large to supply the necessary volume of hard water for all occasions.

An. important feature of the present invention resides in the means provided in the housing 2 for controlling and regulating the supply of hard water into the chamber 23, defined by the walls of the housing. The means provided for thus controlling the flow of hard water into the mixing chamber 23 is shown comprising a series of apertures 24, 25, 26 and 21, provided in the sleeve-like portion 8 of the closure member 9 and spaced equi-distant apart around the circumference. of the sleeve-like portion 8, as best shown in Figure 2. The axes of the apertures 24 to 21, inclusive, and the axis of the feed pipe I3 are disposed in a common plane, whereby said apertures may be selectively moved into registration with the hard water pipe l3 by simply rotating the closure member 9, after having removed the cap screws ll.

But two cap screws are shown in the drawing,.whereas 4 tapped holes. 2.8 are provided in the adjacent edge of the wall of the housing. By this arrangement the closure member 9 may be adjusted in steps of 90, the equivalent of the spacing between the apertures 24 to 21.

It will be noted by reference to Figure 3 that the outer face of the closure member 9 is provided with suitable indicia, generally designated by the numeral 29, which may be in the form of numerals 1621-30, which correspond, respectively, to the apertures 21, 26, 25, and 24. In other words, when the numeral 21 is positioned at the top in line with the hard water pipe [3, as shown in Figure 3, the next to the smallest aperture 25 Will be in registry with the hard water pipe l3, as shown in Figure 2.

When the sleeve-like member has been adjusted to its proper position, the cap screws II are secured in place to secure the closure member 9 to the housing. A suitable gasket 3| is preferably provided between the adjacent end of the housing 2 and the closure 9 to prevent leakagebetween said parts.

' -Another feature of the invention resides in the means provided whereby the treated or softened water flowing from the casing 2 to the boiler 2| may readily be checked from time to time to ascertain its hardness.

To thus check the water flowing through the pipe I9 from the mixing chamber of the device, a.-small test cook 32 is mounted in the pipe l9, preferably adjacentto thecasing 2 of the device,

whereby samples of water flowing through the pipe may be withdrawn therefrom at any time for testing purposes.

By reference to Figure 5, it will be noted that a steam supply pipe 33 leads from the top of the boiler to the equipment or apparatus to be supplied with steam, generally designated by the numeral 34 in the drawings. A return pipe 35 leads from the steam supplied equipment 34 to the condensate tank 9, as shown. By the use of the novel water proportioning device herein disclosed, the hardness or pH value of the raw or fresh water delivered to a steam boiler, may be accurately and automatically controlled at all times. In carrying out the method herein disclosed, a portion of the hard water received from the well 15 is delivered to the water softener Hi from whence softened water is delivered into the condensate tank whereby the water before being delivered into the housing 2 of the present invention, is reduced to zero hardness.

As' this zero soft water is delivered into the housing through the pipe 5, a measured flow of hard water is simultaneously delivered into the chamber 23 to mix with the zero soft water, the fioW of hard water into the chamber being controlledby manipulation of the closure member 9, whereby the resultant water mixture flowing from the chamber 23, through the pipe I9 to the boiler may be of the desired hardness.

Once the novel device herein disclosed has been embodied in a boiler system, as indicated in Figure 5, and the sleeve-like portion 8 of the closure 9 has been adjusted to cause the flow of hard water delivered into the lIliXillg chamber 23 to produce the desired pH value of the water flowing from the device to the boiler, no further adjustment may be necessary, and the device will operate efiiciently and automatically for an indefinite period.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that I have accomplished at least the principal objects of my invention, and it will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiments herein described may be variously changed and modified without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that the invention is capable of uses and has advantages not herein specifically described; hence it will be appreciated that the herein disclosed embodiments are illustrative only, and that my invention is not limited thereto.

I claim as my invention:

l.In a device adapted for use in conjunction with a steam boiler to control the hardness of the water delivered thereto, said device comprising a housing open at one end and having'a single outlet adapted to be connected to the water supply pipe of a boiler, a pipe connected to the opposite end of said housing for delivering ero soft water thereto, a hard water supply pipe in communication with the interior of the housing adjacent to the open end thereof for delivering raw hard water thereto, a cap-sleeve adjustably secured in the openend of said housing and having a sleeve fitting into the housing in overlapping relationto the intake of the hard water pipe, and a plurality of different sizedapertures in said sleeve adapted to be selectively moved into registration with the hard water pipe by relative rotation of the sleeve, thereby to vary the flow of hard water into the housing and whereby the hardness of the water flowing from: said housing to the boiler may be accurately controlled V, l l I. 'H. Ml

2. In a device adapted for use in conjunction with a steam boiler to control the hardness of the water delivered thereto, said device comprising a housing having a discharge outlet in its lower portion adapted to be connected to the water supply pipe of a boiler, a pipe connected to one end of said housing for delivering zero soft water thereto, a hard water supply pipe in communication-with the interior of the housing adjacent to "the open end thereof for delivering hard water thereto, a cap-sleeve adjustably secured to the open end of said housing and having a sleeve fitting into the housing in overlapping relation to theintake of the hard water pipe, a plurality of different sized apertures in said sleeve spaced equi-distant apart around its circumference, means whereby said cap-sleeve and sleeve may be operated to selectively move said apertures into registration with the hard water pipe to vary the flow of hard water into the housing and whereby the regulated flow of hard water may thoroughly intermix with the zero soft water deliveredto the housing to accurately control the hardness of the water delivered to the boiler.

3. In a device adapted for use in combination with a steamjb'oil'er for controlling the hardness of water delivered thereto, said device comprising a housing forming a chamber having spacedapart independent soft and hard water inlets and a single ..outlet through which water may flow from said device to the boiler, said housing being open at one end, a closure for the open end of the housing having a sleeve fitting into said housing beyond the inlet of the hard water supply pipe, and a series of different size openings in the closure flange adapted to be selectively moved into registration with the hard water pipe, upon installation of the device with a given boiler, whereby the delivery of hard water into the housing my be so regulated that when intermixed with the zero soft water delivered thereto, the water discharging from the housing to the boiler will have the required degree of hardness for each given boiler installation.

FRED CARL WILI-IELM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the jfile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

